Page Gardner, president and founder of the Voter Participation Center, released the following statement on the Supreme Court arguments today in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute :

“The Supreme Court is the last line of defense against a nationwide voter purge that could take away the right to vote for millions of Americans. When elected officials make it harder to vote like the voter purges in Ohio, they’re taking away this fundamental right for people to have a voice in their communities and their future. We should be doing everything possible to help more eligible people vote, but the Supreme Court has made bad decisions regarding voting rights in the recent past. As we saw when the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act, states will disenfranchise millions of Americans if the Supreme Court rubber stamps the Ohio voter purges.

“The Rising American Electorate — unmarried women, people of color, and young people — is the majority of citizens and is targeted the most by voter suppression efforts. If efforts to limit the RAE’s political power through voter purges is allowed, it will shatter the best interests of our country and a strong democracy.”